1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method utilized to automatically test a computer, and more particularly, an apparatus and method utilized to automatically test an audio board and a video board of a computer.
2. Related Art
Computer systems are information handling systems that are utilized by many individuals and businesses today. A computer system can be defined as a microcomputer that includes a central processing unit (CPU), a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, a display monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, a floppy diskette drive, a compact disc-read only memory (CD-ROM) drive, a modem, a hard disk storage device, and a printer. Typically, a computer system""s main board, which is a printed circuit board known as a motherboard, is used to electrically connect these components together.
Recently, because the rate of production of computer systems performing multimedia functions has rapidly increased, the steps involved in the testing processes for these computer systems have become complicated and difficult. It can be especially difficult to automate a multimedia test which tests a moving image and a musical performance. This is true because the moving image data, often utilizing a data compression standard developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG), is located on a first compact disc-read only memory (CD-ROM) while the audio data is located on a second CD-ROM. Thus, during the testing process, the first CD-ROM must be ejected and replaced by the second CD-ROM. This replacement of CD-ROMs is time consuming and is an impediment to automating the testing process, where multimedia functionality of a video board and an audio board are tested. I have found that testing processes of computer systems can lack precise results, since precise results can be more costly to achieve, and more time consuming.
Examples of methods and devices testing video and audio signals are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,647 for Automatic Acoustical Testing System issued to Frye et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,634 for Audio/Video Quality Monitoring System issued to Efron et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,376 for Methods And Apparatus For Testing Image Processing Apparatus issued to Barraco et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,505 for Universal Audio Analyzer issued to Soutar et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,364 for Perception-Based Audio Visual Synchronization Measurement System issued to Wolf et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,837 for Audio/Video Quality Monitoring System issued to Efron et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,500 for Video Quality Evaluating Equipment For Reproduced Image Of Video Signal Subject To Digital Compression issued to Hamadaet al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,043 for Automatic Video Display Testing And Adjusting System issued to Wen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,709 for Portable Audio System And Audio Cable Continuity Tester issued to Iredale, U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,548 for Apparatus For Testing And Adjusting Audio/Video Signal Waveforms In color Television issued to Byen et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,444 for Analyzing The Signal Transfer Characteristic Of A Signal Processing Unit issued to Efron et al.
I have discovered that, even though there currently exist methods and devices testing video and audio signals, the available testing methods and devices lack a degree of precision and also require a tester to respond and intervene during the testing process.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus and method automating the process of testing of a computer system in order to precisely test a video board and an audio board of a computer system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a data storage medium used during the testing of a computer, in which digital video data and digital audio data to be used during testing are stored at different positions on the data storage medium in such a manner as to enable a still video image, a moving video image, an audio signal, and other information, to be tested with a high degree of precision without a need for human intervention.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method of automatically testing whether a video board and an audio board of a computer are functioning normally using test data stored on a data storage medium.
These and other objects of the present invention can be achieved by storing digital video information and digital audio information in separate locations of a data storage medium and using the stored digital video information and audio information during testing.
Also, the above objects and other objects of the present invention can be achieved by performing the steps of: recording test video data and test audio data on a data storage medium; applying the test video data and test audio data to a video board and an audio board, respectively; producing output video data and output audio data; determining whether the test video data and the output video data are similar; determining whether the test audio data and the output audio data are similar; and testing automatically whether the video board and the audio board are functioning normally.
Preferably, the step of producing the output audio data includes a step of matching impedances of the test audio data before applying the test audio data to the audio board. A conventional compact disc-read only memory (CD-ROM) can be used for a data storage medium.
In recording the data to be tested, the digital video data is first recorded in any track, and then the digital audio data is recorded in a track next to the track in which the digital video data is recorded.
Moreover, the digital video data includes still image data and moving image data which are recorded in different tracks. At this time, the moving image data can be formed by repeatedly recording the still image data having the same content during a predetermined time. In addition, each color of red, green, and blue (RGB) in the still image data is successively arranged having any number of dots in the vertical direction.
The digital audio data is extracted by equally dividing audio signals within an audible frequency range and detecting by turns any divided audio signals among the audio signals which are equally divided.
Preferably, the digital audio data can be extracted by selecting each of audio signals of second, fourth and sixth frequency domains among the audio signals which are equally divided into 7 for one second, respectively.
The present invention is more specifically described in the following paragraphs by reference to the drawings attached only by way of example.